Monday, March 2, 2009

Do not put this bumper sticker on your bicycle

There's a Florida band named "This Bike is a Pipe Bomb". If you want to keep life simple, do not attach their bumper stickers to your bicycle. Otherwise your ride could be considered a terrorist threat.

That happened Monday in Memphis where an airport terminal was shut down when such a bicycle was spotted near a passenger ramp.

A pilot saw the bike with the sticker and notified police, who evacuated the terminal. Bomb-sniffing dogs were called in, but did not detect any explosives.

Airport police took the bike owner into custody, but later released him because they didn't have grounds to make an arrest.

A bicyclist at Ohio University in Athens wasn't so lucky three years ago when he parked his bike with the sticker near an on-campus restaurant.

Police sprayed his bike with high-pressure water then pried it apart with a "jaws of life." In addition to losing his bike, the student was initially charged with inducing panic, a misdemeanor.

Perhaps realizing they may have overreacted, university officials later agreed to drop the charges and reimburse the student for his destroyed T700 Cannondale touring bicycle.